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I think we are all sufficiently stuffed from Thanksgiving! Personally, I’m pretty over turkey until Christmas time. After spending a good amount of time in the kitchen for the holiday, I was dying to cook something fresh, tasty, and new. Tortellini was on my mind and suddenly nothing was going to stop me from making my favorite cheese stuffed pasta. It was just my luck to find a wonderful one-pot meal that included pesto and the pasta I was craving. One Pot Pesto Chicken Tortellini and Veggies was a quick and simple dinner dish that had my tastebuds begging for more!

This week I had a new experience when shopping for the ingredients for this recipe. There’s a new grocery store in town! Well, actually they closed an older subpar grocery store and moved another grocery store in its place and updated the wazoo out of it! I was apprehensive to try it out just based on past experiences at both establishments. Much to my surprise, it was clean and so fancy. It almost didn’t even feel like I was in my town anymore. I had such ease finding everything I needed. The ability to find all the ingredients was the main reason why I chose not to visit this store for my Thanksgiving dinner! I had a great first time exploring my new grocery store and I’m so excited to have a new location for smaller trips and when I’m in a pinch!

After attempting to carve a turkey breast last week, it was great getting back to basics with this recipe. It’s so simple. I thoroughly enjoyed cooking with chicken thighs as opposed to breasts. The flavor of the chicken was undeniable. As a self-proclaimed pesto lover, I was heavy handed with my favorite green sauce. In my eyes, the more sauce the merrier. I also had the minor misfortune of not being able to find yellow cherry tomatoes (I believe they are out of season), but the dish didn’t suffer without them.  There’s so much flexibility with this recipe, so I encourage adding a little of this and that to your heart’s desire. I highly recommend you give this chicken and tortellini a try and add it to your easy dinner arsenal immediately!

One Pot Pesto Chicken Tortellini and Veggies

What You Need:

• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 lb. chicken thighs boneless and skinless, sliced into strips
• salt
• 1 jar (7.5 oz.) sun-dried tomatoes drained of oil, chopped
• 1 lb asparagus ends trimmed, cut in half
• ½ cup basil pesto or use more
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes yellow and red, halved
• 1 cup tortellini uncooked

Instructions:
Click here to Cook With Me!

• In a large skillet heat 2 tablespoons olive oil on medium heat.
• Add sliced chicken thighs (seasoned with salt), half the jar of chopped sun-dried tomatoes and cook everything on medium heat for 5-10 minutes, turning chicken slices over a couple of times, until the chicken is completely cooked through.
• Remove the chicken and the sun-dried from the skillet, leaving the oil in.
• Add asparagus (ends trimmed), seasoned generously with salt, and half the jar of sun-dried tomatoes to the same skillet.
• Cook on medium heat for 5-10 minutes until the asparagus is cooked through. Remove the asparagus to a serving plate.
• Cook tortellini according to the package instructions, drain.
• Add cooked chicken back to the skillet. Add basil pesto. Stir to coat and cook on low-medium heat until the chicken is reheated, 1 or 2 minutes. Remove from heat.
• Add cooked tortellini and halved cherry tomatoes to the skillet with the chicken.  Stir to combine.  Add more pesto if desired.
• Season with more salt if needed.
• Add asparagus to the pot and mix well.
• Serve and enjoy!

Cook With Me:

• In a large skillet heat 2 tablespoons olive oil on medium heat.
• Add sliced chicken thighs (seasoned with salt), half the jar of chopped sun-dried tomatoes and cook everything on medium heat for 5-10 minutes, turning chicken slices over a couple of times, until the chicken is completely cooked through.
• Remove the chicken and the sun-dried from the skillet, leaving the oil in.
• Add asparagus (ends trimmed), seasoned generously with salt, and half the jar of sun-dried tomatoes to the same skillet.
• Cook on medium heat for 5-10 minutes until the asparagus is cooked through. Remove the asparagus to a serving plate.
• Cook tortellini according to the package instructions, drain.
• Add cooked chicken back to the skillet.  Add basil pesto. Stir to coat and cook on low-medium heat until the chicken is reheated, 1 or 2 minutes. Remove from heat.
  

  
• Add cooked tortellini and halved cherry tomatoes to the skillet with the chicken.  Stir to combine.  Add more pesto if desired.
• Season with more salt if needed.
• Add asparagus to the pot and mix well.
• Serve and enjoy!

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